Turkish Army Sends Large Group of Allied Militants to Northern Syria

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Turkish Army dispatched almost 800 allied militants from Turkish territories to Afrin region in Northwestern Aleppo on Tuesday amid intensified insecurity and tensions in the region, field sources said on Tuesday.

The sources said that almost 800 Ankara-affiliated militants called National Police that had gone under military-security training in Turkish territories were sent to Afrin on Monday.

The sources further said that the newly-forwarded group was the second group of National Police that entered the region, adding that the police will shoulder security affairs in Afrin.

Infighting among Ankara-backed militants and looting of people’s assets have gone high after two of months of occupation of Afrin by Turkish troops.

In the meantime, local sources in Afrin reported that al-Shamiyeh Front captured tens of civilians in Ma’abatli region on Monday, adding that al-Shamiyeh gunmen opened fire at people that opposed arrest of civilians in Ma’abatli.

Kurdish-language Hawar news quoted Salahuddin Sino, a member of Afrin Artifact Department, as saying on Monday that the army and Ankara-backed militants were looting historical artifacts of Roza Site in the village of Tarmisha in Shih region in Afrin.

He further told Hawar news that the Ankara forces forced the villagers to leave the region and did not allow anyone to return to the region.

Sino said that the Turkish forces embarked on excavation operation in the entire historical areas in Roza Site and stole valuable artifacts.

Sino further pointed to the destruction of tens of historical sites in Afrin, adding that the army destroyed fifty percent of Tal Ayndara Temple, which was one of the most important historical sites in Afrin listed in the UNESCO list, in the early days of aggression against the Kurds in Northwestern Aleppo.

In the meantime, local sources reported that Turkey-backed militants captured a sum of ten civilians in the villages of Shirawa region in Afrin and asked their families to pay $1,000 for their release.